The Problem with Apples
by Mister Inconsistent
Summary: Dawn and his father are joined by Dawn's two best friends and their father for a day out in the garden. But what happens when they can't reach the apples? Oneshot, Completed! Sequel possibly in progress.


**Hey guys, this is my second oneshot, so enjoy!**

**I know, the title and summary are terrible. If you have any suggestions, be sure to let me know.**

**Sorry it's so short, I was writing this as part of a longer oneshot, but I decided that it would be better as a separate one. I'm thinking about writing a sequel to it, so please tell me what you think.**

**There isn't really any shipping in this, just some childhood memories and such :P**

**Just as a side note in case you get confused, Orion is Dawn's father and Red is Ash's father (sorry I couldn't come up with any better names guys! I suck at substituting characters in). Gary is Ash's best friend and always stays round his as Gary's parents are always away, and Gary and Ash may well be brothers in that sense.**

**Ash, Gary and Dawn are all around 3 or 4 years old.**

**Enjoy :D**

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at that one!" A tiny, bluenette giggled and pointed to a large red apple hanging high above her head, ready and ripe for picking. With a squeal, she threw herself upwards, trying to snatch it down.

Orion, the little girl's father, laughed brightly while the little girl grumbled at not being able to reach her prize. "Now, now, Dawn – you must be careful!" the man told his daughter, scooping the small girl into his arms after a particularly nasty fall.

Orion gently rubbed the bruise that was beginning to form on Dawn's arm and pressed a healing kiss onto the young girl's skin. Dawn grinned widely and wrapped her small arms around her father's neck.

Today, Dawn had decided very early that morning, would be a good day – she had already planned out everything.

Later that morning, her friends, Ash and Gary, would be joining her to play in the gardens, and once they had thoroughly tired each other out, the cook had promised them all some fresh bread, and also that he would cook any fruit they found into a pie for the three of them to share. After they were full, they would curl up by the fire and his father and Red would tell them stories of the 'old days'.

The weather was pleasant (the young girl had made sure that it wouldn't rain by speaking to a very amused Mayor of the town, who promised to chase away any rain clouds) and the sky was clear. Birds sang in the trees, and a gentle breeze tugged and teased the young girl's silky, blue hair, making her beam with delight.

_Yes_, Dawn thought happily to herself, today would be good.

On the other side of the great apple tree, Red – who was wrestling playfully with two small children– shot Orion a bemused look. The Contest Master and his daughter (despite the colossal age difference) were alike in so many ways; both fair, with midnight blue hair and bright and sparkling stormy-blue eyes. And though Dawn was still only young, she walked with the same pride, beauty, and passion of her father, and Red knew that one day, after Red had finally retired, Dawn Berlitz would make a great Pokemon trainer, like his father.

"Daddy! I can't reach it!" Dawn's lower lip trembled and she looked up hopefully at her father. "Will you help me?"

"Wait, wait! We can help you, Dawn!" Ash and Gary jumped down from Red's lap and bombarded their friend with a hug.

"Maybe if you stand on Ash's shoulders," Gary suggested in a smart voice, "Then I can climb on your head and we can reach it together!"

Red and Orion grinned and observed the children's plotting – but before either of the two could respond, Ash had interrupted his best friend with a yelp of disapproval.

"That wouldn't work, Gary!" Ash told him matter-of-factly, causing Gary's face to crumple. "Everybody knows that I'm the best climber! Since Dawn is the shortest, he should stand on your shoulders, and I should be the one to climb on her head!"

"How about one of us gets it for you," Red spoke up, intersecting the boys before they started a physical fight – Gary was already looking very upset at Ash's interruption, and was curling his lips into an ugly frown.

Dawn stared up at Red, titling her head to the side curiously. "But how will you climb on daddy's shoulders? You are too big!"

Orion burst in laughter while Red quirked an eyebrow at the Coordinator's innocent daughter, his smile reaching his worn brown eyes. "How will…" Red repeated slowly, checking to see if he had heard right, "climb… on his shoulders?"

"Yes!" the three children's chorused. "How else will you reach all of the apples?"

Orion wiped a small tear from his eye and inhaled deeply to calm his fit of laughter. He knelt down in the grass so he was eye-level with the three of them. "I think we can manage, children," the blue haired man told them, patting his daughter on the head, before standing up again and easily plucking the biggest apple to place in Dawn's outstretched hands.

Ash and Gary rushed to Dawn's side, quietly gazing with enchanted expressions at the shiny, red fruit. After a moment of intense silence, Dawn motioned for her two friends to lean towards him,

"Daddy says that apples make you grow really tall!" the young girl shared, and the boys' eyes grew even wider with awe. "According to Daddy, centuries ago humans were as short as these things called 'Dwarves' and that they wanted to be taller, so they got called the bestest wizards in the world to come and enchant the apples to make them tall! That's why we have to eat all of our fruit, so we can be as tall as Daddy!"

Red sniggered when he heard Dawn speak of magical wizards enchanting fruit to make humans tall, and he shook his head at Orion, chuckling quietly.

"What?" Orion hissed to him, looking amused, "It gets her to eat all her fruit, at least!"

Meanwhile, Dawn, Ash, and Gary were starting to make more plans. "I bet if we eat all of the apples on the tree, we can be the tallest humans in the world!" Ash gushed out, extending his hand as high as he could above his head. "We can be this tall!"

Gary gasped at his friend. "No, no, Ash! You can't grow too tall, or you shall bump into the apple branch and your head shall fall off, and then you won't be tall at all!"

"Yes, and you can't eat too many apples, or you shall turn into an apple tree yourself!" Dawn added, and Gary nodded his head furiously.

"Fine," Ash huffed, crossing his arms and turning his nose up at Gary and Dawn, "We won't eat too many – just enough to grow really, really tall!"

Later that evening, after Dawn, Ash, and Gary had collected as many apples as their little arms could carry, and the cook had fulfilled his promise and brought up some fresh bread and berries for the three children (along with some wine for Orion and Red) Red had called the three small children to his side and began to enthusiastically tell them the tale of the Squirtle and the Buneary.

The tale of the Squirtle and the Buneary was a long and favoured tale of the three children, but soon after it had begun, Gary and Dawn had begun to gently drift off to sleep, and it wasn't long before the two had sufficiently curled up against the two adults and were resting peacefully.

Seeing they were asleep, Ash crawled carefully into Red's lap. Red tugged at the end of his cloak, freeing enough from beneath him so he could wrap the raven-haired boy tightly in it.

"Daddy," Ash mumbled, his tired voice muffled by Red's cloak, "Will I ever be as tall as you?"

Red smiled fondly at his son and gently stroked a few stray strands of hair out of his son's face. "Of course you will, son!" Ash grinned happily, and made a small content noise against his father. "In fact, son, one day you will be even taller than me!"

"Wow! Will I really?" Red nodded and Ash's face lit up with wonder. "Even taller than Gary and Dawn?"

Ash felt his father's chest move against his cheek as Red laughed, and the small boy joined in, giggling and watching in amazement at the imaginary picture his father was painting for him. "Yes, even taller than them – just make sure you keep eating apples, son."

Seeing their children curled up together, the two adults smiled at one another. They knew that even after they were gone from the world, their children would remain strong and united, forever and always.

**Done!**

**I hope that was …cute enough for you guys? Did it make you go 'awh' enough? :P **

**I've never written anything quite like this, I don't really write 'cute' stories in a sense.**

**So what do you all think? Should I write a sequel? And don't worry, the sequel WILL be longer and if you want there to be one, tell me what shipping, there's two to choose from: Pearlshipping and Cavaliershipping.**

**Thanks again for reading, and please leave a review to tell me how I did!**

**See you next time!**

**~DreamCrafter**


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